MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT DISNEY: My Main Street Friends

This series of blogs focuses on my favorite things about Disney … those experiences that I find uplifting, enjoyable, memorable and worth more than one visit. These are my personal “must do’s” whenever I walk through the main gate of a Disney park and into what Walt Disney himself called “this happy place.”

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During my 45-plus years of covering the wonderful world of Disney, I’ve had the distinct honor of striking up relationships with a good number of Disney’s more prominent cast members.

I cherish the friendships I’ve built over the years with these Disney Legends. I’ve interacted with many of them in person, either during lunch or at a press event. At the very least, I’ve chatted with them on the phone or online.

To give you an idea of how special these people were during their Disney careers, just look up the next time you’re walking down Main Street, U.S.A., be it in California, Florida, or France.

Marty Sklar’s name appears on three Main Street windows around the world. This one is in Walt Disney World and it includes tributes to F.X. Atencio and Al Bertino. [Chuck Schmidt]
You’ll see scores of beautifully designed windows, each with clever sayings, personalizing these very special people and their storied accomplishments.

It’s no easy task to be honored with a window on Main Street, U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom in Disneyland, Walt Disney World, or Disneyland Paris.

In speaking about receiving a Main Street window, Marty Sklar, former head of Walt Disney Imagineering – and the man who actually wrote the guidelines for inclusion in the very unique club – said: “The honor is high and the windows are few. Therefore, an individual’s achievements need to be of the very highest level to warrant inclusion with the originals who created and built a particular park.”

Whenever I find myself walking along Main Street, I always make it a point to look up and renew acquaintances with many of my over-achieving Disney friends. Here are just a few of my Main Street buddies:

Charlie Ridgway’s window in Walt Disney World is above the Arcade in the Magic Kingdom. [Chuck Schmidt]

CHARLIE RIDGWAY: AN EVENT-FULL CAREER

Along Main Street in Walt Disney World, to the left above the sign that reads “Arcade,” is a window honoring Charlie Ridgway, a man who made significant contributions to the success of both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Indeed, he became known as a master at spinning Disney’s world as the company’s chief press agent at both parks.

From his tiny office above the police station near City Hall, Charlie dreamed up new and creative ways to get the word out on Disneyland from 1963 to 1970, before moving to central Florida to head up WDW’s press and publicity department.

As Marty Sklar once told me: “Disneyland wasn’t a slam dunk” during its first few years of operation. The work done by Disneyland’s public relations team – which included Sklar, Eddie Meck, Milt Albright, Jack Lindquist and later Ridgway – was crucial to the success of the park.

Among Charlie’s accomplishments: The swash-buckling opening of Pirates of the Caribbean in Disneyland; celebrating Donald Duck’s birthday with live ducks marching down Main Street; the Life Magazine “gang photo” of Walt Disney World cast members posing in front of Cinderella Castle prior to the park’s opening; and EPCOT’s ground-breaking opening-day ceremonies.

Charlie Ridgway, right, poses for a photo with his former WDW public relations sidekick, Rick Sylvain, during a chance meeting in Manchester, England, in 2007. [Courtesy of Rick Sylvain]
I first became acquainted with Charlie back in the early 1980s. Whenever I wrote a story about Walt Disney World, I’d send Charlie a tear-sheet of my work. He’d almost always respond with a letter on official Walt Disney Company letterhead [remember, this was well before emails and text messages], thanking me.

In 1986, he invited me [along with 5,000 other journalists from around the world] to cover Walt Disney World’s 15th anniversary, a whirlwind event that he dreamed up. It was the most incredible, over-the-top press event I’ve ever attended. I sent him several tear-sheets after that celebration.

In 1992, Charlie invited my family and I to lunch, which we gladly accepted. We spent a wonderful afternoon at the Yacht Club Resort; I regaled in the stories he told about his days as a radio disc jockey, a struggling young newspaper reporter, and how fortunate he was to land a job in the publicity department at Disneyland before moving East to head up public relations at the brand-new Walt Disney World.

Charlie’s goal during our lunch was to get the word out on all the new hotel properties that had just opened or were about to open on Walt Disney World property. My goal was to pick the brain of someone who had worked side by side with some of Disney’s more prominent executives, including Walt Disney himself.

Over the years, I kept in touch with Charlie and was fortunate to have conducted a thoroughly enjoyable telephone interview with him after he turned 90 in 2013. He passed away on Dec. 24, 2016.

Charlie’s window reads: RIDGWAY PUBLIC RELATIONS … Charlie Ridgway, Press Agent. … No Event Too Small.

Tom Nabbe’s window is above the Main Street Cinema marque in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. [Chuck Schmidt]

TOM NABBE: FROM PAINTING FENCES TO MONORAIL BOSS

Interestingly, Tom Nabbe’s window on Main Street in Walt Disney World [above the Main Street Cinema marque] references his stellar career at Disneyland.

Nabbe began his Disney employment modestly in 1955 as a “newsie,” hawking copies of The Disneyland News to incoming park guests. In fact, Tom is a member of Club 55, a group of Disneyland cast members who started their careers during the park’s opening year.

In 1956, Tom was handpicked by Walt Disney to play the role of Tom Sawyer on the new Tom Sawyer Island attraction in Frontierland. He was so successful at his job that his face appeared on several national magazine covers.

When he outgrew the part, Tom went on to manage several Disneyland attractions before answering the call to head East for the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971, where he took on the role of monorail system manager. His final assignment was as manager of Distribution Services for all of WDW.

Tom retired after a 48-year career, but still makes appearances at Disney fan or anniversary events as one of the few people who was in attendance at the openings of both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Tom Nabbe, right, and AllEars.Net blogger Chuck Schmidt pose for a photo on Main Street on Oct. 1, 2021. [Janet Schmidt]
He’s also the guy who has helped coordinate “meatloaf Thursdays,” when he and his fellow WDW retirees in central Florida get together for a meal and reminisce about the old days.

I have conducted several interviews with him over the years and he and I’ve exchanged many emails.

I ran into Tom during the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World’s opening on Oct. 1, 2021. He had just finished a book-signing event [his book is titled “The Adventures of Tom Nabbe”] near the Main Street Cinema and was heading toward Cinderella Castle, where a group of WDW opening day cast members was going to pose for a group photo.

Thankfully, he took the time to pose for a photo with me during that hectic day.

Tom’s window reads: SAWYER FENCE PAINTING: Tom Nabbe, Proprietor … Anaheim, California, Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Bill [Sully] Sullivan’s window on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. [Chuck Schmidt]

BILL SULLIVAN: A CHARACTER AMONG CHARACTERS

Like his buddy Tom Nabbe, Bill [Sully] Sullivan began his career at Disney rather humbly.

Sully was fresh out of high school when he watched in amazement as opening day at Disneyland unfolded on ABC-TV on July 17, 1955.

At that moment, Sully caught Disney fever. The following Saturday, he applied for a job at Disneyland. On Monday, he quit his job at Northrop Aircraft and on Tuesday, he reported for work as a ticket-taker for the Jungle Cruise attraction at Disneyland.

It was the beginning of a 40-year career that saw him tackle a boatload of assignments both in Disney theme parks and outside the parks at Disney-related events, such as the 1960 Winter Olympics, the premiere of Mary Poppins and the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” he told me during a phone interview. “Folks had faith in me. I had never been in a place with the magnitude of the Contemporary, let alone work in it. I just had a tremendous experience throughout my career. I got to go to New York, Paris and Tokyo. The company supported me and gave me the opportunity.”

In addition to dozens of assignments during his career [he retired as the vice president of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World], he became personal friends with the “leaders of the club” … Walt and Roy Disney.

“Walt was a regular guy,” Sully said. “He was a complete gentleman, honest and straight-forward. He was always about taking care of the guests and keeping the place clean. I remember seeing him walk through the park and he’d bend down to pick up trash. … He was easy to work with, but if he raised his eyebrow, that’s when you knew he wasn’t happy.”

A meeting of the “meatloaf Thursday” group of former Walt Disney World cast members included, right to left: Bill Hoelscher, Lee Biggens, Tom Nabbe, Bill [Sully] Sullivan, Steve Baker, Ted Kellogg and guest John Fuss. [Courtesy of Tom Nabbe]
Walt’s brother Roy “was a really nice guy, too,” Sully said. “I’ll never forget one Sunday morning I was on duty in Disneyland. I was on Main Street and Roy and his wife Edna walked out the door of the firehouse. I went over and said ‘Good morning,’ and Roy said: ‘Meet me at the back of the Hills Brothers Coffee Shop so we can get some coffee and a Danish.’

“I did just that and Roy invited me to join him and his wife for breakfast. Nice, nice man. We started talking about the plans for EPCOT and Walt Disney World.”

Like Nabbe, Sully wrote a book about his Disney career: “From Jungle Cruise Skipper to Disney Legend,” subtitled 40 Years of Magical Memories at Disney. Sully’s collection of Disney-related stories are enlightening, honest, funny, sometimes blunt, but always thoroughly enjoyable.

There are so many hidden Disney gems inside this book, you’d think Sully spent his spare time in the Seven Dwarfs’ diamond mine.

For instance, in describing Paul Castle, the first official Mickey Mouse hand-picked by Walt Disney himself in 1961: “He was a pain in the ass to work with half the time. He was really salty.”

Or Tiny Kline, the first Tinker Bell at Disneyland: “She was a funny little old lady … seventy-some years old … who wanted to do Tinker Bell going down the wire by her teeth. … She’d ride the bus down every day from Los Angeles and then had to run to catch the last bus going back home. She was a sweetheart.”

With a nod to his Jungle Cruise beginnings, Sully’s window in Walt Disney World reads: SULLY’S SAFARIS … Guide Service.

Jack Lindquist’s window in Disneyland is located on City Hall in Town Square. [Chuck Schmidt]

JACK LINDQUIST: TRULY, A JACK OF ALL TRADES

Jack Lindquist got his job at Disneyland in a rather interesting way: When he found out there was an opening in the park’s public relations department, he gave a full-throated recommendation – for himself.

In the weeks before Disneyland opened in July of 1955, Jack was able to tour the construction site as an employee of a marketing firm which represented Kelvinator Appliances, one of Disneyland’s many corporate sponsors. He was in attendance at Disneyland’s chaotic opening day, but still came away impressed.

When his company was approached by Disney officials about a job opening in the PR department, he submitted his own name. “The job sounded pretty good, so I recommended myself!” Jack said with a hearty laugh during a phone interview I had with him in 2015.

Jack joined a staff that included future Disney Legends Eddie Meck, Milt Albright and Marty Sklar.

During their time working together, Lindquist and Sklar became the best of friends … the type of friends who would pull good-natured, practical jokes on one another or conduct water-pistol fights on an almost daily basis.

They had offices above City Hall at Disneyland. If you stand in front of the building today, you’ll see Marty Sklar’s window to the left and Jack Lindquist’s window to the right. “It’s appropriate that we’re together, kind of bracketed,” Marty once told me.

Jack Lindquist was named a Disney Legend in 1994 to honor his many contributions to the Walt Disney Company. [Courtesy of D23]
Jack Lindquist was responsible for some of the most imaginative marketing initiatives in promoting Disneyland. He had a hand in the creation of the hugely successful Magic Kingdom Club, as well as Grad Nites, Date Nites, Vacationland Magazine and the Disney Dollars program.

But there were many other ideas which sprang out of Jack’s fertile imagination … ideas that were ahead of their time and radically altered marketing strategies throughout the entertainment industry, including the idea of selling tickets in advance of an event.

When Disneyland turned 10, it was Jack who dreamed up the term Tencennial and it was his idea to come up with a variety of tie-ins and promotional events all linked to the special celebration.

Coinciding with the Tencennial was Jack’s Disneyland Ambassador Program. “A young lady would be selected from among all the employees and she would represent Disneyland in the park and around the country,” Jack said. “They would host VIPs and heads of state in the park when Walt wasn’t able to meet with them.”

Jack would go on to become the first president of Disneyland before retiring in 1993 on Mickey Mouse’s 65th birthday. He was named a Disney Legend in 1994. He passed away in 2016.

Jack’s window refers to him as the “J.B. Lindquist: Honorary Mayor of Disneyland” and “Jack of All Trades, Master of Fun.”

Ron Dominguez’s window references his family’s ownership of an orange grove on what is now Disneyland. [DizBuff.com]

RON DOMINGUEZ: A NATIVE DISNEYLANDER

In the months leading up to Disneyland’s opening day, cast members were working 14-to-16-hour days, seven days a week. Many were spending so much time on The Site, as it was known, that they often said they felt as if they were living there.

Ron Dominguez could empathize. In an odd twist, Dominguez and his family actually did live on a section of the Disneyland property for the first 18 years of his life. The Dominguez family owned 10 acres of orange groves, land that was inherited from Ron’s grandfather. Their Spanish-style house was located about where Pirates of the Caribbean and New Orleans Square stand now.

Ron began tending the orange groves at an early age, and when he wasn’t in school, he was working in the fields. But that all changed when Disney came knocking in 1954.

“My mom had a tough time leaving the property,” Ron told me during a phone interview in 2014. “The day we moved out, in August of 1954, we were walking in ditches and holes. Things were popping up all around us because construction had to move ahead. It was a very emotional day.”

In the fall, Ron, a graduate of Anaheim High School, was off to the University of Arizona. But he kept hearing from his parents about all the people who had descended on Anaheim in search of employment at Disneyland.

“They said there were long lines along West Street where Disney had set up a personnel office. They began interviewing in January of 1955.” Ron thought it might be a good idea to try to get a summer job at Disneyland during the break after his freshman year.”

Ron Dominguez worked as a ticket-taker during Disneyland’s opening day in 1955. [Courtesy of D23]
Ron, then just 19 years old, got a job in the ticket office at Disneyland. Like every other new Disney cast member, Ron went through the training program devised by Van France. “The training took place in one of the old homes on West Street,” Ron said. “And Van was the one who gave the orientation. The thing that stood out the most to me was ‘we work when everyone else plays.'”

He was on duty on opening day and remembers the utter chaos from dawn ’til dusk. When the invitations went out to dignitaries and members of the press, Ron recalled, “The idea was to stagger the times of entry, to spread out the crowds so there wouldn’t be a mad rush. That didn’t work very well because everybody wanted to be the first one in. It was a really hot day and, not being in a management role at the time, I didn’t know what the biggest headaches were. But we became the kings of crowd control. It was a madhouse, no question.”

Ron would go on to enjoy a long and stellar career with Disney in a variety of positions, rising to the position of executive vice president, Walt Disney Attractions, West Coast.

When Ron first returned to Anaheim after his freshman year, he was pleased to find out that his family’s house hadn’t been demolished – it was, in fact, moved to another site on the property, about where the Disneyland Railroad’s primeval world diorama scene currently resides. “Our house and another house from the property were moved and put together and became the administration offices for the first few years,” Ron said.

There is one special piece of Ron’s life that remains on the property and is a “must-see” when his family returns to Disneyland. It’s another example that it really is a small world.

There’s a palm tree along the queue of the Jungle Cruise that’s still flourishing.

“It was given to my grandparents as a wedding gift in the 1890s by a local botanist,” Ron said. “My daughter married the great-grandson of the guy who gave my grandparents the palm tree.”

Ron retired in August 1994 after 39 years of service to The Walt Disney Company, which included a brief stint as Davy Crockett in Disneyland. He was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2000. He passed away in 2021.

Ron’s window reads: Orange Grove Property Mgt. … “We’ll care for your property as if it were our own.” – Ron Dominguez, Owner.

Marty Sklar’s window in Disneyland is located on City Hall. [Chuck Schmidt]

MARTY SKLAR: THE LEADER OF MY CLUB

Of all the relationships I’ve had with Disney luminaries over the last four-plus decades – and there have been dozens – I cherish my friendship with Marty Sklar the most.

Yes, he was the former leader of Walt Disney Imagineering, and he was a Disney Legend. And in retirement, he was named an Imagineering Ambassador, meaning he traveled the world, spreading Disney pixie dust on thousands upon thousands of adoring fans.

But Marty also was a humble man, devoted to his family, as well as to the hundreds of the people who worked with him at Imagineering … affectionately known as “Marty’s kids.”

He was a tireless worker, innovator, mentor, benefactor and visionary; the kind of leader the women and men under his charge would walk through walls for. And he also had the innate ability to make you feel as if you were the most important person in the room, even when that room included Disney dignitaries or Academy Award-winning movie producers.

Marty was a font of Disney knowledge. I often referred to him as “the main conduit to Walt Disney himself,” given the fact that he worked side-by-side with Walt on so many important projects from the mid-1950s up until Walt’s death in 1966.

Marty Sklar and his wife Leah pose for a photo in their Hollywood Hills home in 2016. [Courtesy of Leslie Sklar]
Marty began his Disney career in 1955 when he was asked to develop a concept for The Disneyland News, a souvenir newspaper Walt wanted sold to guests as they entered his new park. At the time Marty was a student at UCLA who had designs on becoming a sportswriter.

The Disneyland News was a big hit [interestingly, Tom Nabbe was one of the young lads hawking the paper as guests approached the park’s main gate]. After he graduated from UCLA, Marty was offered a full-time job in Disneyland’s PR department, where his career blossomed.

He became Walt’s trusted speech writer. Indeed, any time Walt appeared on TV or at board meetings or during presentations, it’s a safe bet Marty wrote Walt’s lines.

Marty penned the script for “The EPCOT Film,” which presented to the world Walt’s vision for Disney’s move to central Florida and his plans for the creation of an experimental prototype community of tomorrow.

I first interviewed Marty in 2010. I wanted to get his insights on Disney’s participation at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair. Marty left Disneyland PR to join WED Enterprises [the forerunner of Imagineering] during the all-hands-on-deck World’s Fair endeavor and had intimate knowledge of just about every aspect of the Disney/World’s Fair connection.

I first met Marty in person at a “dinner and a conversation” fund-raising event in Orlando in 2011, where he held court over black coffee and Chilean sea bass; his pearls of wisdom during the enjoyable night were a welcome side dish.

I attended several of Marty’s book signings in New Jersey, Florida and California. And we met him for a memorable lunch at Club 33 in Disneyland in 2013.

Marty Sklar’s name appears on this window along Main Street in Disneyland Paris as Martin Sklar. He’s the Editor-in-Chief of the fictional Main Street Gazette, which “prints the news before it happens.” Fellow Disney Legend Tony Baxter is the Managing Editor. [Chuck Schmidt]
Marty’s name appears on three Main Street windows around the world, albeit in three different iterations: He and Tony Baxter share a window in Disneyland Paris, while in Walt Disney World, Marty, X. Atencio and Al Bertino are on a window together. Appropriately, Marty’s lone “solo window” is in Disneyland, to the left on the City Hall building. His good friend Jack Lindquist’s window is to the right.

Interestingly, two of the windows reference a newspaper and a publishing company: In Disneyland Paris, Marty is the editor-in-chief of the fictitious Main Street Gazette [Baxter is the managing editor]. His name appears as Martin Sklar. When I asked him “Why Martin?” he responded: “To keep my mother happy.” The window also reads: “We print the news before it happens.”

In Walt Disney World, the window refers to the Hollywood Publishing Company, which specializes in everything from “Manuscripts to Melodramas.”

And at Disneyland, his window lauds him – Martin A. Sklar – as the dean of the “Main Street College of Arts and Sciences.” Marty passed away in 2017.

Chuck Schmidt is an award-winning journalist and retired Disney cast member who has covered all things Disney since 1984 in both print and on-line. He has authored or co-authored seven books on Disney, including his On the Disney Beat and The Beat Goes On for Theme Park Press. He also has written a regular blog for AllEars.Net, called Still Goofy About Disney, since 2015.

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Chuck Schmidt, bitten by the Disney bug at an early age, remembers watching The Mickey Mouse Club after school in the mid-1950s. During his 48-year career in the newspaper business, he channeled that love of Disney as the Sunday News and Travel editor for The Staten Island Advance. Chuck has written or co-authored seven books for Theme Park Press, including Disney's Dream Weavers, On the Disney Beat, An American in Disneyland Paris, Disney's Animal Kingdom: An Unofficial History and The Beat Goes On. Chuck has shared his passion for all things Disney in his Still Goofy About Disney blog on AllEars.Net since 2015. He resides in Beachwood, N.J., with his wife Janet. They have three adult children and seven grandchildren.

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